The
Rule of Saint Benedict

Introduction

About the Rule of Benedict

The Rule
of Benedict (RB) constitutes the basic guide for thousands
of Christians who are committed to the monastic movement. Many disciples of
Jesus followed the Rule in the past and many
still do so today. Written in the sixth century the Rule was
followed in thousands of monasteries in Europe, so much so that the Church
of the early Middle Ages, beginning especially in the ninth century, was characterized
as monastic.

Benedict, the Author

Historians are relatively certain that RB was
written by St. Benedict, the
founder of the monastery of Monte Cassino,
though the historical evidence does
not allow a conclusive proof of authorship. St.
Benedict's biographer, St. Gregory the Great (pope
from 590 to 604), indicates that Benedict "wrote a
Rule for monks that is remarkable for its discretion
and its clarity of language"
(Dialogues,
Book 11, ch. 36). The autograph copy of RB has been lost but
scholars believe that we have a faithful copy that is a
few centuries and manuscripts away from the
original. The best manuscript (Codex San Gallensis 914)
stems from the early ninth century and is found
today in St. Gall (Switzerland). Another manuscript
(Hatton 48 found today in
Oxford's Bodleian
Library), though earlier by a century, is less faithful because
copyists strove to correct the sixth-century Latin.

Spiritual Teaching

RB should not be viewed as an exclusively legal
code though it includes prescriptions for living in a
monastery. The Rule actually contains a treasure of
spiritual wisdom concerning the monastic
movement in the Church.
Its
Prologue and seventy-three chapters provide teaching about the basic monastic
virtues of humility, silence, and obedience as well as
directives for daily living. RB prescribes times for
common prayer, meditative reading, and manual
work; it legislates for the details of common living
such as clothing, sleeping arrangements, food and
drink, care of the sick, reception of guests,
recruitment of new members, journeys away from the
monastery, etc. While the Rule does not shun minute
instructions, it allows the abbot to determine in
great detail the particulars of common living.

Sources and Context

RB, written anywhere between 530 and 560, is not
an entirely original document. It depends in great
measure on the rules and traditions of Christian
monasticism that existed from the fourth century to the
time of its writing. Scholars note that rules and
writings like those of St. Pachomius (fourth-century
Egypt), St. Basil (fourth-century Asia Minor),
St. Augustine
(fourth- and fifth-century North Africa),
Cassian
(fifth-century southern Gaul) stand behind RB and at times are
clearly evident in the text. The most important source for RB, however, is
the Rule of the Master (RM), an anonymous rule written two or three decades before Benedict's
Rule. Not infrequently, especially in RB's
Prologue and first seven chapters, Benedict copied extensively
from the Rule of the Master. Benedict picked up
the monastic tradition and even copied from its documents (as was
customary at the time); but he also corrected and
altered the tradition in significant ways.

Sixth Century Latin

Benedict wrote his Rule in the spoken and
ordinary Latin of the day. It is not the classical Latin of
antiquity nor the scholarly Latin taught in the
remaining schools of his time, though occasionally his
language is elegant and polished. As the Rule drifts
from the classical language it also gives evidence of
the breakdown of Latin into more common forms of
speech (what later became the Romance languages).
Benedict writes with crispness and directness;
seldom is he profuse or homiletic.

Via Media, The Middle Way of Measure and Discretion

Compared with the tradition and especially with
the Rule of the Master, Benedict
legislates for a monastic life that has rhythm, measure,
and discretion.
His monks are not overdriven by austerities in
fasting and night vigils. They do not own anything
personally, but they have enough to eat and to drink
(even wine when it is available) and to clothe
themselves. They work with their hands about six hours a
day but they also have leisure for prayerful reading
and common prayer. Their sleep is sufficient and
they may even take a siesta in summer if needed.
The young, the sick, and the elderly are cared for
with compassion and attention. The abbot, while he
directs all aspects of the common life, must seek
counsel from the monks; and the Rule makes
provision for his limitations and failings. In short,
RB arranges for a monastic life in which the monks may
seek God in prayer and reading, in silence and
work, in service to guests and to one another.

The Monk and Community

Benedict's Rule stands tall in the great tradition
of Christian monasticism. It is a Christian rule in the
sense that its spiritual doctrine picks up on the
values of the Bible (e.g., prayer, fasting, service of
neighbor) and arranges for a life in which these
values can be lived out in community.
RB is not written for monastic hermits, though Benedict has high
regard for them; it is written for ordinary Christians
who wish to immerse themselves in a pattern of
living in which the life of Christ can be lived out with
understanding and zeal.

RB is still used
today in many monasteries and convents around the world.
The monastics of today do not follow it literally but
still find in it much wisdom to live the common life.
It still protects the individual and the community
from arbitrariness on the part of the abbot or others;
it still provides a way of living the Christian life.
Monastic communities accept it as their basic
inspiration even as they mitigate it, supplement it, or
adapt it to the living conditions of today.

Statistics

Ca. 8,400 men and 14,600 women are living
in monastic communities; statistics on oblates (lay associates) living outside
monasteries are not recorded (Catalogus Monasteriorum O.S.B.,
Rome, 2000).

Resources for Learners

Benedict's
Rule: A Translation and Commentary by Terrence G. Kardong,
OSB (Liturgical Press, $64.95). The first line-by-line exegesis of the
entire Rule of Benedict written originally in English. This full commentary
-- predominately a literary and historical criticism -- is based on and
includes a new translation, and is accompanied by essays on Benedict's
spiritual doctrine.

Dated but thorough is C. Cyprian Alston's article on "The Rule of Saint Benedict" in the venerable Catholic Encyclopedia (NY, 1913; New Advent online collaborative version).

Anselm Grün OSB, Benedict
of Nursia: His Message for Today.
Linda M. Maloney, tr., (Liturgical Press, 2006, $9.95). Each chapter concludes
with a brief reflection on the state of contemporary society and how
the aspect
of the Rule of Benedict treated in the
chapter applies to the needs of today.

Wisdom
from the Monastery: The Rule of Benedict for Everyday Life by
Patrick Barry OSB, Richard Yeo OSB, Kathleen Norris OblSB and others (Liturgical
Press, 2006, $15.95). Wisdom from the Monastery contains a contemporary
translation of the Rule of St. Benedict and short reflections on the seven
basic elements of Benedictine spirituality that are a tried and true recipe
for healthy, balanced and purposeful living.